Disclaimer: I SPANK YA FACE!
Author's Note: It was a long tedious pregnancy that required much cake and many fudge pops, but here's my brain baby! I hope you LOVE IT. I WROTE THIS FOR YOOOOUUUUUU.
\\\
Chapter One
"We seize control FOR THE GREATER GOOD"
\\\
"GET BACK! GET BACK NOW!" Ernie Macmillan's voice roared over the sound of the battle raging around the team of Aurors. Both Dean and Seamus obeyed and started to retreat from the two wizards; behind Ernie, Ron signaled to Harry, who nodded grimly before circling back around the two duelers.
"Do as he says! All of you!" the hooded wizard was screaming, his wand slicing through the air as he sent a steady procession of curses at Ernie, "Get back!"
"It's gonna blow!" Ernie bellowed as he ducked his head; a jet of green light sailed through the air above him, blowing his hair back.
Ron shimmied quickly up the ladder to his right and onto the creaking metal catwalk that stretched high above the warehouse floor. The air was boiling with magic and sparks crisscrossed below his feet as he plodded down the walk towards the two wizards, Harry running parallel to him from the other side of the warehouse.
"It's Goyle again," the Head of the Auror Department, John Dawlish, had informed the team hours before. "Bring him in before he tries blowing up another street block."
"Here's an idea," Ernie retorted sarcastically to the others as they shrugged into their robes, "how about we put him under Azkaban this time?"
"How does he keep escaping anyway?" asked Seamus as they headed for the door.
"I'm still not convinced there isn't a mole in security," said Ron darkly.
"Goyle's so thick, and so desperately in need of a shower," said Dean, "that the security trolls probably see him more as a brother than a prisoner."
"I hate trolls," Ron growled, "they're bloody useless. What was Kingsley thinking? Hiring them out?"
"Ask your fiancé," Harry smirked, "She's the one that's got the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in such a titzy."
"Bless her for her efforts," said Ron fondly, "but honestly. That woman."
"What is that thing?" Harry shouted over at Ron as they neared the edge of the catwalk and looked down on Ernie and Goyle. A large metal ring stood tall and mighty behind the wizards, pulsing blue and humming with energy, and as they watched the pulsing increased until a solid blue blur was spinning around the rim.
"It looks like a particle diffusion accelerator!" Dean shouted up to them.
"A WHAT?" Ron screamed back.
"No idea, but it sounded smart!"
Ron looked back towards Ernie and Goyle just as Seamus whacked Dean on the back of the head. Energy was splitting through the warehouse from the duel; sparks flew around the pair as the floor beneath them began to splinter and crack from the magical exertion.
"Ron!" Harry shouted to get his attention. He pointed down at the ring and Ron tracked the movement and stared once he realized what was happening: some sort of wind had picked up, dragging everything towards the ring. Sparks from the spells and curses were swirling towards the center and both Goyle and Ernie were bracing themselves as firmly as they could as the wind picked at their robes. "We've gotta take that out!"
"Harry—wait!" Ron shouted at him, reaching out and grabbing the railing of the catwalk. The draw of the ring was becoming stronger, stretching hungrily across the entire warehouse until crates and boxes started tumbling across the floor towards the two dueling wizards.
"Ernie, get out of there!" yelled Seamus, clutching onto one of the steel supports of the catwalk as the ring sucked the air out of the warehouse.
The metal beneath Ron's feet started to creak under the pressure, pitching violently enough to send him crashing onto his knees.
"What is that thing?" Ernie bellowed at Goyle, dodging a crate as it rolled through the air above him. A loud zap followed as the crate disintegrated on impact with the swirling vortex in the middle of the ring.
"Heck if I know!" Goyle shot at him, still vainly trying to curse his face off. He began to wave his arm wildly, "Avada KadavARGH!" he screamed as his wand yanked free and bulleted into the ring.
"Turn it off!" Ernie shouted, ducking his head against the wind pulling on them as he braced himself against the ring's platform.
"I don't know how to!" Goyle shouted at him, his hands pushing stubbornly against the metal brace.
Above them, Ron was screaming his head off as he clung to the rail. "WHERE'S HERMIONE WHEN YOU NEED HER?"
Harry darted out from behind another steel support, keeping himself low to the ground as he ran along the base of the ring's platform and towards Goyle and Ernie, his feet slipping sliding as he went along. Throwing himself down beside Ernie, he lifted his wand. "We need to take it out! Give it everything you've got!"
The other auror nodded and retrieved his wand from his sleeve, having slipped it back into place when the duel became fruitless. In sync, the two wizards gripped their wands firmly and pointed them up at the ring. "BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" they shouted in unison, their voices rising above the screaming of the machine.
Identical streaks of light shot from their wands but were only sucked into the vortex along with another box, a strip of aluminum, and someone's unfortunate cat that screeched in horror before another crackling zap blasted through the warehouse. It seemed the ring was steadily increasing its power with everything it sucked up; it was only a matter of time before it sucked in the entire warehouse, taking the team along with it.
"The roof!" Harry shouted above the roaring in their ears, "Blast the—"
"Look out!" Seamus shouted from behind them as a steel pole spun through the air towards them and smacked into the three wizards crouching at the base of the ring. They all lost their footing and somersaulted backwards onto the platform. Goyle's hand shot out and latched onto the ledge and Ernie grabbed onto his foot and clutched a fistful of Harry's robes as he sailed past them.
"HARRY!" Ron shouted from above, his cry echoed by both Dean and Seamus from the front of the warehouse.
Harry shot a series of curses and spells at the edges of the ring desperately before his wand was sucked right out of his hand.
"I'm slipping!" Goyle grunted down to the two others.
"Don't you dare let go, Goyle!" Ernie shouted at him as he tightened his grip around his ankle.
"I'm slipping!" he repeated, now sounding panicky as his sweaty hand began to inch back from the edge of the platform.
"Guys!" Harry shouted up at them as the toes of his shoes touched the center of the ring. "Guizzze!" he repeated, his voice vibrating from the force of the vortex jarring his entire body.
"Don't let go, Goyle!" shouted Ernie.
"I LET GO!" he wailed, and the three of them went flying into the ring.
"HARRY!" bellowed Ron, his voice squeaky with horror as the ring's speed increased to a whining pitch that screeched through the warehouse. The joints of the structure began to creak in protest along with the support beams of the catwalk above, sending the metal pitching beneath Ron again. A thunderous explosion then ripped through the entire warehouse; the roof caved in, taking the back wall and a good portion of the catwalk with it. Ron shouted again, scrambling backwards as the catwalk continued to buckle under the weight of the roof.
At last it stopped, leaving only a thick cloud of dust settling over the warehouse and the ghostly moan of the metal that was bent grotesquely towards the middle of the floor. Gone was the back half of the building.
Gone were the three wizards.
\\\
With what sounded like the wailing of a dying cat screaming in their ears, the three wizards found themselves suddenly chucked out of a cloud of sizzling sparks, followed by three subsequent thumps as their bodies hit the ground.
"What was that?" Ernie immediately demanded to know, only to get a face full of screeching cat as the vortex burped out the frenzied feline. "AGH! GET IT OFF!"
Goyle took one wild look around them before scrambling onto his feet and making a run for it; Ernie pried the cat away from his face and chucked it at the fleeing wizard, who shouted as the feline latched onto his back with a murderous, "MROWWW!"
"Where are we?" asked Harry as he stood up with a wince, rubbing his backside tenderly. "It looks like…" and his eyes grew wide behind his glasses as he turned a 360, "Hogsmeade…"
"Did we disapparate?" asked Ernie, popping up onto his own feet.
They were indeed in Hogsmeade, but something wasn't quite right, and it had nothing to do with Goyle cuddling with a cat at their feet. The street was littered with trash and rubble, and the buildings were black and ashy with soot, the unmistakable ghostly remains of a terrible attack. Harry crossed the street slowly, staring up at the crumbling remains of the Three Broomsticks.
"What the—?"
"GET DOWN!" Ernie shouted without warning, and a second later Harry found himself face down in the dirt with the other auror sprawled on top of him as a small fighter jet came screaming over the town, crashing right through the roof of the pub above them.
"HOLY HIPPOGRIFFS!" Goyle screeched from behind them as he scrambled out of the way.
Ernie covered his head as broken boards and shingles rained down over them, and as soon as the rubble stopped falling he and Harry dragged themselves out of the debris.
"What the heck?" Harry tugged at his hair wildly; the jet, billowing with smoke, crashed into the ground somewhere behind the Three Broomsticks and exploded. "What—that—what's going on!"
"Look! There's more of 'em!" Goyle shouted, pointing wildly towards the distant smoldering form of Hogwarts.
"Harry," Ernie's voice was unnervingly calm, "why is Hogwarts on fire?"
When the other auror failed to answer, Ernie seized him roughly by the front of his robes and, looking crazy, shouted, "Why is Hogwarts on fire?"
Before Harry's head could even stop swiveling, another jet came streaking through the sky towards them, this time followed by the sharp shrill sounds of gunfire.
"What's happening?" Goyle demanded as ammunition peppered the ground and tore up the road towards them.
Ernie reacted instantly, "Get behind me!" and drew his wand. "Protego!"
Bullets the size of marbles ricocheted off of his shield and flew off into the distance, slamming into buildings and smashing through windows. The jet flew overhead and then up into the clouds where it turned sharply to release a second round.
"Do something!" cried Goyle, hugging the cat to his chest so tightly it hissed and scratched at him angrily.
Ernie drew back his wand arm and then thrust it forward again, sending the shield of energy slamming into the hull of the jet. It spun wildly through the sky before disappearing behind a line of houses; a moment later the ground shuddered as it exploded.
"We need to get out of here!" said Harry urgently, but Goyle took matters into his own hands and started running down the road with the cat tucked under his armpit, waving an arm above his head as he screamed, "WE SURRENDER! WE SURRENDER!"
"Goyle!" shouted Ernie, "Get back here!"
"Come on!" Harry took off after him, careful to keep a watchful eye on the skies. He had no idea what was going on, but when the military was involved and heavily armed you didn't stop to ask questions.
Goyle charged through the gates and onto the well beaten path that wound its way up to the school, his arms still flailing as he screamed, "DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT! WE SURRENDER!"
More jets flew overheard, darting in and out of the clouds as they fired— fired at what? What was that? Taking a moment to catch his breath, Harry stared up through the leaves of the trees and for the first time noticed the wizards mounted on broomsticks. Flashes of light flew across the sky as spells were cast. Enemy fire.
Were they at war with Muggles? How where they—what was—
Catching up, Ernie urged him on, his wand at the ready in case they were spotted again.
Upon reaching the stone bridge that stretched across the chasm leading into the outer courtyard of the castle, Goyle skidded to a stop and stood stock-still as he gazed in horror and awe at the battle raging on the grounds all around them.
"What the hell," Ernie breathed as they came up beside him. Now he clutched his own hair. "What the hell."
Harry shook his head, words failing him once again as he watched wizards and Muggles alike fall before them. Gunfire split the air, curses and spells sizzled from every direction, tanks, dragons, everything imaginable from both of his worlds had meshed together in a single bloody war-burrito.
"Look out!" someone shouted from behind them, and they turned in almost perfect unison just as the ground began to tremble, followed by a monstrous stampede. A herd of centaurs came crashing forth from the Forbidden Forest towards them, armed with bows and arrows that were shot high up into the sky at the wizards. "LOOK OUT!" was repeated, and Harry found himself face down for the second time in a manner of minutes, but this time he was pinned to the ground by a redheaded woman.
"Ginny?" he gasped, his glasses wildly crooked from the fall.
"No, you dolt!" was the furious reply as she moved off of him, the centaurs having passed to wreck more havoc across the grounds. "What the heck do you think you're doing, standing around! There's a battle to be fought!"
And as he sat up, Harry got a better look at his rescuer, and to say words failed him was an understatement. He was truly beginning to question everything he knew, for before him, her cheek split open and her hair pulled back sharply, was Lily Potter, her emerald green eyes—his eyes—narrowed to fierce slits.
But she was—she couldn't be—
Lily was already running across the grounds with her wand in hand, her scarlet red hair fanning around her as she ducked and weaved back into the battle. His mother, most definitely alive, was fighting a war with Muggles and wizards on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Ernie was shouting at him, but everything was muffled and distorted, his mind still trying to process everything that was going on. Goyle—why was he there? And where did he get that cat—?
Another high pitched whine split through the fog in his mind and he jerked back into action, scrambling out of the way as another fighter jet slammed into the ground only a few hundred yards away, sending another tumultuous rumble through the earth. Ernie seized him by the back of his robes and hauled both him and Goyle out of the way, shouting orders, his own adrenaline taking over, still oblivious, because everything was wrong, wrong, wrong—
"A noble effort, however hopeless," a voice suddenly cut effortlessly through the sounds of battle, so unexpectedly and full of force that Ernie lost his footing and slid down the slope. "I speak directly to the Resistance when I say that victory is impossible. Join us now, my brothers and sisters, or risk being destroyed."
"No," Harry turned and stared towards the distant castle, menacing in its frame of fire and ash, towards the man the voice belonged to.
"Join us now," Dumbledore continued indifferently, "and together, we will reign over mankind for the greater good."
"Harry—that was—" Ernie sounded as stunned as Harry felt, but before he could reply a monstrous man landed on his feet before them, having dropped right out of the sky—
"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed, scrambling to his feet only to have Ernie yank him back down as a stray spell shot overhead. With a bloodcurdling roar Hagrid pivoted around to face their attacker, his fist clenching as it swung out to send their assailant flying off his feet. More spells bounced harmlessly off his chest and back as he swung at more wizards.
"McGonagall's callin' uh retreat!" he boomed at them, jerking Goyle to his feet by the hood of his robes. Blinding lights flashed above them and Harry gawked in hopeless confusion as entire fighter jets began to disapparate—but that was impossible—
"Don' jus stand there!" Hagrid bellowed at them, and with a tumultuous CRACK! he disapparated without warning. Hagrid. Hagrid disapparated.
They weren't at war with Muggles. They were at war with Dumbledore. The entire world suddenly made absolutely no sense. Hagrid was disapparating. Dragons were flying neck and neck with Muggle jets. Centaurs were cantering next to army tanks. Dumbledore. The Greater Good.
"RETREAT!" someone roared, his voice carrying over the series of cracks and screams. "Resistance, TO ME! Retreat!"
Harry whirled around, his glasses lighting up with the fire of another explosion, but before he could call out to Sirius someone gripped his shoulder and with an earsplitting CRACK! the sounds of battle disappeared and everything went black.
\\\
End Note: IF YOU TOOK THE TIME TO READ THIS PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEASE REVIEW! PLEASE. EVEN IF YOU HATED IT AND THOUGHT IT WAS DUMB. I LOVE YOU. HERE'S A TACO.